Making Ondo economy self-sustaining

Four decades after Ondo State was created, she is still breathlessly dependent on Abuja money. This cannot be said to be normal. It’s strange even. The grinding poverty and grim livelihood that is consequent to this heavy dependence on federal allocation attests to this unacceptable insufficiency, which clearly raises the need to immediately create a self-sustaining economy that is key to developing the state and creating better livelihoods for her people. Ondo State has the resources she needs within her purview – both natural and human – to become practically a wealth-generating and job-creating economy that can essentially sustain itself; thereby making oil revenues from federal allocation an added bonus rather than its mainstay.

But the great reality of the moment is a vivid reflection of the crisis of governance and leadership which have been the bane of our existence in recent time. The monumental challenges of poverty and underdevelopment that rear their ugly heads in our state today are products of several decades of unconscionable governance that was bequeathed to us by the do or die political apostles and their desperate local counterparts. They are hostile to our peace and progress in the times past. Their democratic expediency is replete with an orgy of maladministration, corruption, nepotism, favouritism, politics of exclusion, and a dearth of purposeful and responsible governance. The consequence of all this is a wobbly economy hanging precariously on a mono-product to the detriment of the industrial sector. The consequence of this is also education that has grown old and lethargic as well as teachers that are tired and suffused with the inclement condition of hardship; resulting in mass illiteracy in geometric proportion among the people, coupled with the general social convulsion.

A report from the Nigerian Socio-Economic Indicators in 2012 said that as a resource-rich state Ondo has no reason to have the extremely high poverty incidence level of 70 percent. Thisis a serious indictment of the state government. There is poverty in the midst of unmatched but concealed wealth. This should not be so. It is high time that the political leadership in Ondo State stoke a reprieve to put everything she has to use in order to make her prosperous and create an economy that is practical, productive and people-centred. This is what the government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is all about. How should this be done?

Judging by the current rudderless political leadership that has perennially missed out on maximizing resources, it is clear that for the Sunshine State to possess a shinning economy, she needs a leader steep in experience in the real practice of making things work; a leader with tenable substance beyond rhetoric. It is high time sentiments are abandoned in the consideration of leadership for this great state. The state needs an experienced leader with business acumen who understands how to leverage on the rich natural resources and the already existing but latent skills and talents of the people. In the past seven years especially, it is clear as daylight that not much has been done to practically use what the state has in order to take her place of pride among growing economies not only in the South-west but in the nation. The situation has become so bad that a recent report has it that Ondo State is one of the worst places to start a business. Apart from the political will needed to make things work in the state, Ondo needs a leader with the requisite experience and refreshing expertise in business to activate her rawness to practical wealth.

One of the ways to create a self-sustaining economy is by addressing the knowledge deficit amongst the majority of her citizens. There’s a mantra that says you cannot give what you do not have. This mantra simply underlies the truth that the grinding poverty and tasteless economic situation are directly proportional to what I call “ineffective education” that breeds ignorance and joblessness. The way it is right now in our dear state is that the totality of education is not strategically tailored towards our needs. And that is one of the reasons we rely on importing expensive expertise at the expense of our own human resources that only needs a new re-orientation, thus facilitating the economic growth of our state. One of the major ways to accomplish real growth is to “un-isolate” the classroom from the out-of-classroom learning environment in a structured way that integrates real life scenarios with curriculums in an effective way – the idea of schools without walls. Installing this method of learning will empower the people with the practical knowledge on how to look inwards, master the prospects of the wealth around them, and eventually become stakeholders and vital parts of a flourishing economy for self-sustenance.

We’re blessed in Ondo State with arable land well-suited for agriculture that it irks the mind to see this God-given endowment lying waste and untapped. In this era of oil doom, it is not only wise for government to embark on an aggressive agricultural initiative, but also the right and expedient thing to do to grow its revenue base and create wealth. Most of us didn’t know that when oil prices started to plummet in September 2015, the international price of cocoa rose by about 60% from its current price around the same time.It’s important to bring this point home by stating here that the African country of Cote d’Ivore and its 20 million people depend entirely on cocoa production and export. It’s the major source of earnings that sustains the country and its people. The population of our state is less than four million people, yet we’re still very poor. What is more, the world has gone green and organic; and there lies the wealth of any economy with the right leadership to fuel this new economic trend. Ondo State is uniquely positioned as a major agricultural hub and an alternative to the mono-product oil economy. Aside from merely encouraging people to engage in agriculture, a serious government must practically create the interest by heavily investing in a structure that suits its practice; a structure that ensures mechanization of the processes of creating organic products from the farm produce and their commercialization.

The aim of bridging the knowledge gap among the people of Ondo State (especially the youths) is to develop a home-grown expertise in place of ineffective education in order to create wealth. This is very pivotal in creating an economy that can sustain itself. We don’t really need to spend borrowed money to import the so-called experts to build our state when we can wisely spend less to develop ourselves and our raw materials, thereby developing our state. For instance, if the government formulates a policy to rehabilitate schools, specific industries should necessarily be set up to provide most of the materials related to rehabilitating the schools with at least 90% of our local content. Developing local expertise via practical 2-3 months trainings is an indicator towards the encouragement of Small Businesses that will serve as the key engine for growth and job creation. Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) and Micro SMEs should be the key focus of any serious administration.

The amount of foreign investments in Ondo State needs to increase in place of borrowing. Most of the solutions listed above will need government funding to kick start, hence, the need to seek partnership with foreign investors. Getting investors into the state isn’t the main issue. The reason why the state hasn’t enjoyed foreign investments is the glaring lack of integrity within the ranks of the present government. Therefore, without mincing words, the way forward for our dear state is through a healthier, growing, debt-independent and self-sustaining economy.

Abraham, a frontline All Progressives Congress (APC) wrote from Ikare, Ondo State..